A woman was stabbed to death last night and two men injured in an horrific series of incidents at a busy station in the rush hour.

A woman was stabbed to death last night and two men injured in an horrific series of incidents at a busy station in the rush hour.

The woman who died was believed to have been stabbed by an ex-boyfriend as he got off an Underground train at Euston station in central London.

It is thought her assailant then ran to a ticket office, where he slit his throat and stabbed himself in the chest. He was seriously ill in hospital last night.

Another man who it is thought tried to intervene as the woman was attacked also suffered knife wounds. He was not thought to be seriously hurt. Both injured men were taken to University College Hospital.

British Transport Police media relation's officer Simon Lubin said the alleged assailant and the dead woman were believed to have been travelling together on the tube train.

"We think there was an argument. We believe they got off the train and he stabbed her as she arrived.

"It was very quick, just a few minutes. The woman who died was stabbed in the chest. She died on the platform."

Mr Lubin said she was aged in her 20s or 30s.

Terrified passengers at Euston Underground station had to be herded away from the scene of the attack. The station remained closed for the rest of the evening as police launched an investigation.

"The knife which was recovered is large," said Mr Lubin, adding that it was still protruding from the man's chest when the emergency services arrived on the scene.

Two 18-inch trails of blood marked the blue tiles at head height on the walls near the ticket barriers, the spot where the man collapsed. The scene, on the first level below ground, was sealed off while officers stood guard.

Also littering the floor were a number of plastic bags and cartons dropped by horrified commuters as they fled the area earlier.

Chief Inspector David Dickason of British Transport Police described the scene as "horrific".

"People in the station saw a woman collapse on the platform with a loss of blood," he said.